Re: 3ware vs. MegaRAID

Ireneusz Pluta wrote:
> I am waiting for an ordered machine dedicated to PostgresSQL. It was
> expected to have 3ware 9650SE 16 port controller. However, the vendor
> wants to replace this controller with MegaRAID SAS 84016E, because, as
> they say, they have it on stock, while 3ware would be available in a
> few weeks.
>
> Is this a good replace, generally?
> Will it run on FreeBSD, specifically?

The MFI driver needed to support that MegaRAID card has been around
since FreeBSD 6.1: http://oldschoolpunx.net/phpMan.php/man/mfi/4

The MegaRAID SAS 84* cards have worked extremely well for me in terms of
performance and features for all the systems I've seen them installed
in. I'd consider it a modest upgrade from that 3ware card, speed wise.
The main issue with the MegaRAID cards is that you will have to write a
lot of your own custom scripts to monitor for failures using their
painful MegaCLI utility, and under FreeBSD that also requires using
their Linux utility via emulation:
http://www.freebsdsoftware.org/sysutils/linux-megacli.html

--
Greg Smith 2ndQuadrant US Baltimore, MD
PostgreSQL Training, Services and Support
greg(at)2ndQuadrant(dot)com www.2ndQuadrant.us